Alinma Bank posts higher than expected Q3 2019 earnings: Aljazira Capital

Alinma Bank’s Q3 2019 net profit of SAR 713 million came higher than expected, Aljazira Capital said in a research note.

The brokerage firm said that Alinma’s strong performance and higher operating income was a result of solid loans and deposit growth along with higher lending rates.

“Funding cost was slightly lower than expected despite higher than expected increase in deposits,” Aljazira said.

“For FY19, we expect Alinma to post earnings of SAR 2.73 billion, an improvement on FY18 result despite of zakat expense recognition in FY19,” it added.

Aljazira Capital maintained its Overweight” recommendation with a target price of SAR 26.8 per share.